The Healing of Old Wounds
by Aubrey212
Summary: When Elizabeth 'Lizzie' Hunter comes to work in the crime lab, she does not only have to deal with her estranged father, who is part of the team, but also with a certain grumpy dark-haired detective and his troubled mind. A Flack/OC fic, post 5x25.
1. Chapter 1

_**This is an idea that popped into my head the other night and I just thought I'd type out a first chapter and see the responses it's going to get – guess that'll then tell me whether I should continue with this story or better drop it.**_

_**So please, leave me a review or send me a message and let me know what you think – should I continue this story?**_

_**Summary:**__** Sid Hammerback's estranged daughter from his first marriage comes to town and she comes to work with the CSIs. Will she be able to resolve her problems with her father? And what happens when she seems to be the only one who can cheer Flack up, now that Jess is dead?**_

_**Pairings:**__** DLL (Danny/Lindsay/Lucy), FlackOC, maybe hints at Mac/Stella (but not so sure) and depending on how far I'm going to take the story, I might just create two OCs for Hawkes and Adam.**_

_**Setting:**__** Post 5x25 (Pay Up)**_

_**Spoilers:**__** Spoilers for the season 5 finale, none after that.**_

_**Disclaimer:**__** I don't own anything, am only a poor little fanfic writer. All that's mine are the OCs that I create. CBS may feel free to just buy them off of me and make me a happy and rich student.**_

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* * *

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Detective Donald Flack Jr. was sitting in Joe's bar, at the counter, knocking back one shot after another. Joe had long given up trying to make him quit. After some serious fights, he had just left the bottle at Don's side.

Everyone in the bar knew why Detective Flack was here – it was exactly 4 weeks after Detective Angell's death and one could clearly see that Don was not over it – probably never would be. He poured himself a new drink, when a slender, blonde-haired girl sat down next to him.

"Looks like you shouldn't be doing this right about now," she stated and tried to take the bottle off of Don.

He was quicker and held the bottle out of reach, then turned towards her: "This is none of your business and now go."

"Just saying that I think you had enough alcohol for a night, probably even for a lifetime," she went on. "Maybe you should try to have a glass of water instead of this nasty stuff."

"Didn't I already say that this is none of your business?" Don repeated.

"Look, you want to drown whatever sorrows you have, do it properly and do it alone," she retorted and ordered a beer for herself.

"Are you telling me to leave the bar?" Don asked, disregarding his drinks and fully turning his attention to the unknown girl.

"I do indeed," she answered.

"Oh, and why would that be? Why would I have to go?" he wanted to know.

The girl looked at him, wrinkled her nose up at him, took a deep whiff and said: "Because you need a shower. You stink."

Don immediately got up and built himself up in front of her, trying to look threatening. What he didn't realize was that from all the alcohol, he was starting to wobble and there were stains on the front of his shirt – instead of looking threatening, he looked ridiculous.

The girl glanced at him and started laughing. "Whatever you're trying to achieve, it's not working," she said between laughs. When she had calmed down, she told Don: "Whatever it is you're upset about, drinking yourself into a coma is not going to make it any better. Been there, done that, realized it was a big 'fail'. Go home, suck it up and tomorrow the world will be a better place, I promise."

Don grabbed his jacket, put it on and turned around to leave the bar. He didn't turn back round to the girl, even though he desperately wanted to let her know that for him, the world would never be a good place again because he had lost his angel.

* * *

"I'm still not sure this was a good idea," Mac said and turned towards Stella, who was working next to him in the lab.

"You're doing a good friend a favour, Mac. There's nothing wrong with that. Plus, you didn't only hire her for Sid, you had already more or less decided to anyway," Stella replied and took another look through the microscope at the trace in front of her.

"I know that, Stella. I'm just not sure that this was such a clever idea," he kept on doubting himself and his decisions.

"It'll all be fine. We need someone new in the lab, with all the workload we have on our shoulders. Danny is complaining that he doesn't get enough time off and Lindsay is already doing part-time. You are never going home to catch some sleep and to be honest, I could do with working a little less. Hawkes did tell me the very same thing only yesterday. We need a new CSI and she had the best references," Stella assured him.

Mac sighed and slowly took off his lab coat He walked towards the door and then turned around once more. "Let's just hope you're right, Stella," he said and then left the lab and went over to his own office.

He was waiting for the new CSI to arrive and he still needed her to sign some papers before he could throw her directly into the dragon's den.

* * *

Elizabeth 'Lizzie' Hunter walked into the grand entrance hall of the crime lab building. It was her first day and she still couldn't believe her luck that she had landed this brilliant new job, to work under the command of Detective Mac Taylor. At university in Wisconsin he was a legend and she had taken a class that had been all about him. After Mac himself had held a guest lecture in front of about 200 students, she had immediately fallen in love with the charismatic man and had made it her goal to work under his supervision and care one day. He was one of the best at this job and Lizzie knew that she could profit a lot from him and his experience. She was willing to sacrifice all of her free time, if only to one day get a reference by Mac Taylor himself, asserting that Elizabeth Hunter was one of the best in the field of the forensic work.

Lizzie knew that she had her head in the clouds again, something her mother always criticized her for. But she could never understand what was wrong with a little excessive optimism and joie de vivre.

Lizzie stepped into the elevator and just as its doors were about to close, a hand reached inside and the doors slid back open. A tall and dark-haired man jumped inside and the elevator closed behind him. Lizzie could only see his back and that was clothed in a dark suit. The man let out a sigh and then leant back against the elevator wall. Lizzie looked up at him and just as she examined his face and tried to remember where she knew him from, Don opened his eyes and stared directly into Lizzie's face.

"It's you!" both exclaimed at the same time.

"Unbelievable," Don then added and took a closer look at Lizzie. She definitely was the rude girl from the bar last night who had told him to suck it up and get over whatever problems he had. She had long and straight blonde hair, was wearing jeans, black Converse shoes and a simple black shirt under a jeans jacket. There was nothing special or extraordinary about her. She wasn't wearing any make up and even though her clothes were neat and clean, they were nothing out of the ordinary or strikingly expensive. She was just a girl, probably in her mid- to late twenties.

Lizzie herself took a closer look at Don's troubled face. He had deep shadows underneath his eyes and he looked as if he hadn't had a good night's sleep in a while. He must have lost some weight because the suit was dangling around his body as if it was trying to fit, but simply couldn't. He looked as if he had been to hell and back and Lizzie wondered what it was that weighed so heavy on his mind that alcohol was the only remedy.

"What are you doing here? Got locked up for being too obnoxious?" Don wondered.

"Actually, I'm working here," Lizzie stated. She challengingly looked up at him and waited for his response.

"Mac must be desperate to hire you of all the applicants," Don said.

At that moment, they had reached the 35th floor and both walked out. Don had already more or less forgotten about Lizzie, but she was not willing to let him off that easily. He had insulted her and her honour and she would not let that slide.

"I'm damn good at what I'm doing," she called out, louder than she had wanted to.

"We'll see," was Don's response, without turning back round. For him, she was just another one of those CSIs who came, stayed for a little while and then left again because they couldn't cope with all the pressure, lack of sleep and murder around.

"Miss Hunter?" Lizzie heard her name called out. She quickly scanned the hallway and saw Mac standing in his office door. He was holding it open for her and bade her inside. "In here, please," he added, not knowing whether Lizzie had understood the gesture.

Lizzie meekly followed him inside, all of a sudden feeling like a shy little girl in the presence of a powerful and big man. For her, Mac Taylor was a hero and she didn't want to embarrass herself in front of him. So she chose her words carefully and tried to make a good impression on him.

"Detective Taylor, it's so nice to finally be here," she said and smiled at Mac.

"I know, you already said so in the thousands of mails you send me over the last couple of days," he smirked and teased.

"Too many?" Lizzie shyly asked.

"A tad," Mac said and smiled at Lizzie, to show that he was not angry at her for being overly enthusiastic. "So, are we ready to throw ourselves into work?" he then wanted to know.

"Of course, any time!" Lizzie exclaimed and took the badge from Mac, which he gave her.

"You see, this badge will only get you into crime scenes as it shows that you are part of the crime scene investigative team. You are not a police officer and so you are not allowed to carry a gun. You do not have the exact same rights as we detectives have, but I think you are aware of that," he enlightened her anyway, just to be on the safe side.

"I know all of that. I am just a forensic investigator and not a cop. That's the way I always wanted it to be," she answered.

"May I ask why?" Mac said, curiosity getting the most of him.

"You mean, why did I not become a cop on top of being an investigator?" When Mac nodded, she continued: "I simply never saw the appeal in carrying a weapon. I want to solve crimes and I can do that without belonging to the force. That is all that counts for me. I hope that's not a problem?"

"Not at all," Mac reassured her and then pointed towards the door, wanting Lizzie to follow him. "Care to meet the rest of the team?"

* * *

Dr. Sid Hammerback was down in autopsy, where he belonged. But he couldn't concentrate on the body in front of him – his mind was too full with other things. He knew that Stella needed the autopsy results and so he forced himself to continue, but at the same time he decided to have Hawkes take a look at the results later, just to make sure he hadn't made any major mistakes.

It was one thought in particular that was running through Sid's mind, because of which he could hardly concentrate on what he was doing.

He took a look at what time it was and he was sure that she had to be in the building by now, was probably already upstairs in the crime lab. He knew that the favour he had asked of Mac would put a severe strain on the two men's relationship and yet, when he had seen the file with her name on Mac's desk, he hadn't been able to keep silent. When Mac had told him that he considered hiring her for the vacant position, Sid had practically begged Mac to give the job to her.

Sid knew that his behaviour had been unprofessional, but he hoped one would be able to plead insane in his case.

He was simply a father who wanted to get his daughter back into his life.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Oh wow! I haven't expected that much feedback on the first chapter of the story – I am completely flashed! And so – due to popular demand – I will, of course, continue with the story!**_

_**Thank you so much for the reviews and alerts, I really am glad that you like it! Normally I reply to every single review, but somehow I can't find the time to do it at the moment, so please accept this as my really big THANK YOU to all reviewers and alerters!**_

_**Disclaimer:**__** I still don't own anything and seeing as the CBS still hasn't called to buy my OC off of me, Elizabeth 'Lizzie' Hunter is still mine.**_

* * *

She followed Mac through the lab and shed a look to her right and glanced to her left. There were a lot of people running around, working in the various labs, most of them wearing white lab coats. It was hard for Lizzie to stifle her joy and excitement – she would have loved to start work straight away, but she understood that meeting the rest of the team was the top priority at present. Lizzie closed her eyes and imagined herself in one of the labs, bent over some trace, which was lying in front of her, working conscientiously. In her dream, Mac was standing right next to her and he was complementing her on her brilliant forensics skills.

Lizzie was rudely woken up from her dreams when she bumped into someone – she realized that she still had her eyes closed and hadn't even looked at what was directly ahead of her. She looked down on the floor and immediately went to assist the young man with the full beard. She couldn't quite define the colour of his hair – depending on the angle of the light – it either shimmered brown or ginger. He looked up at her and smiled a broad and welcoming smile.

"Hi," he said and reached out his hand, which Lizzie readily took and helped him up.

"Hi, I'm Lizzie and I am very sorry for having waltzed you over like that," Lizzie immediately apologized.

Adam laughed and shook her hand firmly. "Don't worry about it, I know I'm a stunner – that's the normal reaction I get off girls, really," and he winked.

Lizzie was immediately charmed by the young man and smiled back at him, trying to suppress a really big grin. She was well aware that Mac was watching them and she didn't want to make more of a fool of herself than she already had.

"Adam, this is Elizabeth Hunter, our new CSI," Mac then formally introduced her to Adam.

"Nice to make your acquaintance, Lizzie Hunter. I am Adam Ross, the lab tech, and I will always be at your service," Adam said and bowed jokingly.

This made Lizzie laugh out loud and she replied in-between snorts: "Goof!" She then noticed that Mac was motioning for her to follow him and with one last wink at Adam, she left him behind and trotted after Mac, into one of the labs.

Lizzie took a closer look around, saw some people walking past outside, taking a closer look at her. The walls everywhere in the lab were made of glass and it was hard to hide anything or anyone from the outside. Every single surface was clean and neat, practically sterile – Lizzie loved it. This was the lab atmosphere that she had been longing to work in.

There were two people in the lab, discussing some papers in a folder. The woman had shoulder-long and very curly brown hair; the man had dark skin and short black hair. He was wearing black glasses, which made him look dauntingly smart.

"Hey you two," Mac greeted them and both looked up at him and Lizzie.

"Hey, you must be the newbie!" the man greeted her with a broad smile.

"Guess that's me, yup," Lizzie answered and readily took his hand to shake. She then shook the woman's hand and let Mac introduce the two of them to her and vice versa.

"Elizabeth, this is Detective Stella Bonasera and this is Dr. Sheldon Hawkes. And this is Elizabeth Hunter," he said.

"Oh, just make it Lizzie. I feel so old when I'm being called Elizabeth," Lizzie smiled at them.

"Old? You're barely twenty, aren't you?" Hawkes goofed around.

"I like you," Lizzie winked at him, feeling flattered, and laughed.

"So, how old are you then?" Stella enquired.

"24 last month," Lizzie gave them the answer.

"Oh wow, I still remember when I was 24 – less wrinkles and so much more fun in life," Stella reminisced about old times. This made Mac smile and he let Stella know that she was still very young and he wasn't able to detect any wrinkles in her face. "You charmer," Stella then said and laughed at Mac.

Lizzie liked the frolicsome atmosphere in the lab and she immediately felt at home. She knew that she hadn't met everyone in the team just yet, but she certainly liked the ones she had met till now and she could see herself enjoying the work here. Of course, working with Mac Taylor was an honour as such and she would even have enjoyed working alongside him in the most gruesome surroundings. But a nice team on top of a legend as the boss was a good start into working life, or so Lizzie thought. Little did she know about all the things that were still to come for her and little did she know that there were problems ahead that would shake her to the core.

* * *

Don Flack was by now back in the police department and he was sitting at his desk. No-one dared talk to him because everyone knew that they had better leave Flack alone. He had been no joy to work with over the last couple of weeks and everyone in the precinct missed the goofy, witty and sarcastic sports fan, colleague and detective he used to be.

They all knew that Jessica's death had been especially hard on him, but no matter what they tried, it seemed as if no-one was able to wake him up from the nightmare he was caught up in. Every night he kept on seeing Jess, soaked in blood, her life drained away from her. Over and over again he heard her voice, how she had faintly whispered 'I love you' right before she died. It had all gone so quickly that she hadn't given Don any chance to reply – and no matter how deeply he regretted it, Jessica had never known that he had really and deeply cared for her. Don didn't know whether it had already been love, but he certainly had been on his way to love her from the bottom of his heart. They would have had a great future together, but now here he was, all alone, ready to give up on life's problems.

"Donnie, what'cha doing tonight?" Don looked up at the face of his best friend, who had sat down on the corner of his desk. Danny had shadows underneath the eyes and Don thought that their little baby girl Lucy was probably still crying at night.

"Got work to do," Don muttered in response and turned his attention back to the folder in front of him. He didn't want Danny to know that he had actually been staring at the same piece of paper for half an hour now and he still had no idea what he was reading – that far away from the ordinary world was his mind.

"Come on round to Lindsay's and mine, have dinner with us," Danny offered. "You should see Lucy – she's grown 5 inches in the last two weeks alone, I swear she has."

"I really don't have the time, Danny," Don brushed him off, more rudely than he had planned on doing. "Look, man," he started to apologize, "I really can't deal with any happy couples at the moment."

"Don, we're not just a happy couple. We are your friends and we would love to be there for you, if only you would let us," Danny pleaded. He had had this very same conversation at least once every two days with Don, but the result was always the same – Don refused to come round and a day later Danny heard that he had been at Joe's instead, getting drunk all by himself.

"Look, Danny, just leave me alone, alright?" That was always the last thing uttered between Danny and Don – normally Danny gave up at this point and tried again two days later. He did the same today, but he also added, after letting out a big sigh and patting Don amicably on the shoulder:

"You know where to find me if you need someone to talk to, ok? Even if it is the middle of the night, you just call me or come round."

Afterwards Danny left, but as he was standing in the door to leave the precinct, he turned around once more and looked over to Don – he had never seen his best friend so lost.

* * *

Lizzie was standing alone in the DNA lab, waiting for Adam to come back. They had both run out of test tubes and he had gone to fetch some new ones. Lizzie could vaguely see herself mirrored in the glass wall and she admired the view of herself in one of the shiny white lab coats. She grinned at herself, knowing that her excitement was beyond childish, but she didn't care. She still had so many years to be a grown-up; she thought there was no rush in needing to become a full adult just yet. If she had to, she could be more than responsible. She was a reliable person and when she was doing her job, that was what she focused on and nothing else. She knew how much was at stake in the work she was doing and she was determined to find all the bad guys and have none of them walk away.

Sometimes, so Lizzie thought, she grew more childish the older she got, rather than to grow up and more than once she had asked herself why. There had been only reason she had come up with: that she had been thrust into cold water at the age of 12 when her father had left her and her mother and from one day to the next she had been forced to grow up. She hadn't been allowed to be a child when she actually – physically and mentally – had been one and somehow she thought that she had some catching up to do now.

_Her father_. It was a sore topic with Lizzie and one she didn't like to think about. Lizzie knew that hate was a strong word and she never used it lightly, but when it concerned her father and his past behaviour, she immediately – always – said that she hated him for what he did – for abandoning her and her mother when they so desperately needed him.

"There we go. Ready to roll?" Adam had come back into the lab and placed some test tubes on the table in front of her. Lizzie took one and immediately filled some of the clear, watery liquid inside, which had, in a glass, been resting in her hand all this time. She felt Adam watching her over her shoulder.

"Did Mac ask you to supervise me?" she wanted to know.

"No, of course not!" Adam exclaimed, but Lizzie knew that he was lying and trying to back up their boss. Lizzie turned to Adam and winked at him, showing him that she was well-aware of his lie. "Ok, fine. Maybe he did. Look, he doesn't know you yet," Adam tried to explain.

"Don't worry about it, Adam. It's fine. I actually would have wondered if he hadn't thought about testing me in one way or another," she said and continued to process the DNA.

Adam could find no fault with her procedure and he was instantly impressed by her skills. "You're one of those A students, aren't you?" he smirked at her.

"Maybe?" was all she said.

"Welcome to the club then," Adam shared and then added: "You ever been called a geek?"

"Was my nickname in high school," Lizzie laughed and walked over to the centrifuge.

Adam laughed, too and had to admit that he really liked the new girl – she was fun and she was smart. She was not his type, physically, but he loved having someone on the team he could mentally relate to. As much as he loved his CSIs, they were all so much older than he was and none of them was as savvy as he was, even though they were all highly intelligent. Adam was and would always be different to the rest of the team and he had always hoped for someone he could personally hit it off with, on the basis of being just really good friends. Even though he didn't know much about Lizzie, he felt as if she might be the counterpart he had been waiting for.

Both continued to process the DNA – as a team – and they were proud of themselves when all was processed in record time. They presented their results to Mac and he was impressed – and proud at the same time. He felt that Lizzie was indeed a good addition to the team, at least as far as he could tell till now.

But then again, so Mac thought, there still was the business with Sid. Lizzie hadn't encountered her father yet, but Mac knew that he could not always keep her out of autopsy. As soon as she was working her first case, she would evidently meet Sid and Mac could already sense the avalanche that was about to be triggered.

* * *

Downstairs in autopsy, Sid was on a break. He had retreated into one of the back rooms, his wallet in his hand. Inside, he always kept pictures of his wife and kids – his second wife and the kids she had brought into the marriage, as well as the one boy he and his second wife had together.

Behind all of those pictures, there rested a very old and creased one, its colours faded.

Sid took this one out and tried to smooth it, all the time looking at the little girl that was beaming at him – her smile a broad one, showing her teeth, two of the front ones missing. Her blonde and long hair was done up in two braids, one on either side. The girl in the picture was eleven years old.

The last time Sid had seen his daughter was when she was eighteen and had graduated from high school. He could still vividly see the day in front of his eyes, how she had screamed at him that she didn't want him there, that he had ruined her life and how much she hated him. Afterwards he had never again made an attempt to see her, to get her back into his life. Until now.

Sid smiled at the picture of the eleven-year-old Lizzie and sincerely hoped that one day she would forgive him.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Oh boy, thank you so very much to everyone who has reviewed and alerted and thank you to everyone who's actually reading this story!**_

_**Special thanks to:**_

_**Ms. Lori Reznor  
JonasBROgirl8816  
razmend  
jordinajamaica  
Danny-Lindsay-Fan101  
CSIfan123  
Delko'sGirl88  
CSINYMinute  
IluvmyTV-ugottaproblem**_

_**I promise that at some point in my life I will be able to reply to reviews in PMs, but my life is still very hectic and I'm afraid this shout-out is the best I can do for now. But you should all know that you make me so happy with the reviews and telling me that what I'm doing is good. Thank you so very much! Keep it up!**_

_**Disclaimer**__**: Nothing related to CBS is mine, Lizzie Hunter is all mine though.**_

* * *

It was a cold and clear November sky when Lizzie got out of the black SUV that had driven her to her very first crime scene. She was nervous and excited at the same time, anxious not to make any mistakes. She was working the case under Mac's supervision and with another CSI whom she hadn't met up until now. He was already there when she arrived with Mac and Lizzie spotted him from afar. He was wearing jeans, sneakers and a black leather jacket. He was taken pictures of the victim, who was laying face-down on the ground in Central Park. An anonymous caller had called it in, saying that he had stumbled over a dead body on his daily run. He hadn't wanted to give his name and when the first officers arrived in the scene, they hadn't been able to find him, only the victim.

"Isn't it weird that the caller did not want to give his name? When he's got nothing to hide, why be so afraid?" Lizzie thought out loud.

Mac looked over to her and handed her one of the kits from the back of the car. "I know what you mean, but his calling and refusing to tell his name might be totally unrelated to the case." Mac closed the trunk and led Lizzie down the path to the crime scene. While walking, he added: "It might just be that he hasn't paid for his recent parking tickets and didn't want to get caught on that."

Lizzie followed Mac to the scene of the crime and both ducked under the tape.

"Danny!" Mac called out to the young man who had been taking photographs of the victim.

"Mac!" Danny got up and walked over to Mac and Lizzie, meeting them half-way. "You must be newbie," he greeted Lizzie and held his hand out.

Lizzie firmly shook it and introduced herself as Lizzie Hunter, 'the newbie indeed'. Danny then filled them in on what he already knew – the victim's pockets had been turned out, so he concluded this to be a robbery. Her ID was not confirmed yet and as of now, she was a Jane Doe. She had a wound on her head, so he thought that COD might have been blunt force trauma, but there had been no murder weapon around. The killer might have taken it with him or tossed is somewhere nearby.

"You both probably know about the anonymous caller, which just sounds fishy, if you ask me," Danny concluded and Lizzie couldn't help it, but she clicked her tongue at Mac.

Mac laughed and said: "That's what she said," and pointed towards Lizzie. "But you two shouldn't jump to conclusion, I already warned Elizabeth about that."

Danny smiled at Lizzie, liking the fact that both had thought the caller story was somehow funny and then, he officially welcomed her as part of the team. He told both: "Don is currently trying to track down the caller's ID. When we know who he is, he might want to shed some light on this mystery."

"Fair enough," Mac said and bent down to open his kit. He took out some swabs and handed them to Lizzie. "I take it you know how to take DNA reference samples?"

He didn't have to ask her twice and she eagerly took the swabs from him and set to work. After she had finished taking the samples, she took one of the cameras and canvassed the surrounding area, taking a closer look at the bushes – somehow Lizzie hoped that she would be the one finding the murder weapon and thus impress Mac with her skills. She still had the illusion that she had to impress him; that she had to be better and smarter than everyone else on the team, if she wanted to have his attention. What she didn't realize was that Mac was watching her all this time and that no matter what he was doing, he never let her out of sight; always had an eye on what she was doing.

Lizzie was unaware of being watched, too absorbed in the tasks at hand.

"You think she'll fit in?" Danny asked Mac, out of Lizzie's earshot.

"I think so, even when we all have to make sure to slow down her enthusiasm a little bit. She's a little too eager, might get dangerous for her," Mac gave to think.

Danny nodded and looked over to Lizzie – she was still so young that he rather saw a little sister in her than a colleague. He wasn't sure as of yet how valuable she might be to the team, but he was willing to give her a chance, simply because he was always open-minded.

"How is Lucy doing?" Mac then wanted to know.

"She's fine, Mac. She's eating us out of house and home though, I swear. Never thought a little baby could eat so much," Danny laughed in response.

"If you ever need a break, you or Lindsay, let me know. I'd be honoured to be on godfather duty," Mac offered.

"Believe me, we will take you up on that," Danny winked and got back to work.

Lizzie, meanwhile, had strolled a little away from the crime scene, still searching the bushes for the murder weapon. She had her eyes fixed on the ground and gave no attention to what was ahead of her. That's when she bumped into someone – it was Flack.

"God, how stupid can a single person be? Your father never taught you that you have to look ahead when you're walking?" he asked in an irritated voice.

"Actually, my father only taught me how to walk away, not ahead," Lizzie gave her sullen answer.

Flack took one last look down on her and then turned away, walking over to Danny and Mac. Lizzie had never been treated with as much disrespect as he had treated her with, three times by now. She wasn't sure what was wrong with this tall, dark-haired and somehow good-looking detective, but she was sure that with him, there was more than met the eye. She had heard from Adam that he had recently lost someone he was close to, but that had been all that Adam said. She could understand how that would shake someone up, but she still felt treated unfairly. She might have still been young, but she was not a little child anymore. She had a triple degree in Forensics, Biology and Chemistry – she was smart and she deserved to be treated with respect. Lizzie resolved that it wasn't only her who still had to learn some things, but it was him as well.

* * *

Back in the lab, Hawkes had just come down into autopsy, looking for Sid. He still needed Sid's final report on an old case before Hawkes could give the file over to the District Attorney. It wasn't like Sid to be behind on reports; normally he had them finished the next day. For this particular one, Hawkes had been waiting about a week now and this was his third time to remind Sid of still having to hand it in. Hawkes was worried about his colleague and friend and he wanted to use his trip to autopsy to ask him whether everything was alright or whether Sid might need some friendly advice or help.

"Sid!" Hawkes greeted the older coroner and walked over to where he was just examining a body.

"Oh, hello Sheldon," was Sid's half-hearted reply. He was not fully where he was supposed to be, his mind was not set on work, but on other things.

"Ok, this is it. Coffee, you and me, now!" Hawkes ordered and took Sid by the arm and dragged him into the morgue's break room.

Sid did not exactly object, but he still wasn't sure whether he really wanted to talk to Sheldon about what was really up with him. So he didn't say anything, but simply sat down and took the steaming cup of coffee that Sheldon offered.

Hawkes sat down opposite Sid and watched his friend. "What's up?" he simply wanted to know and all he got from Sid was a deep and heavy sigh."You want to talk about it?" Hawkes tried to dig deeper.

"I don't really know, to be honest. This is all a very dodgy business, Sheldon," Sid finally replied.

Hawkes, not knowing what to make of that, leaned forward, closer to Sid, and whispered: "You're not involved in anything illegal, are you?"

"No!" Sid immediately exclaimed and then closed his eyes. He then continued: "But it's still a very long story."

"I've got time," Hawkes said and sat back, determined to take all the time that Sid needed.

* * *

When Mac and Lizzie got back to the lab, they had just put down all of the evidence on one of the tables, when Don walked in.

"Hey! Danny just called and said that there was a slight emergency back home. He had to go see Lindsay and asked me to take over for him," he informed Mac and Lizzie.

Alarmed, Mac asked: "Is everything alright with Lindsay?"

Don waved aside and answered: "Yeah. Lucy's got a little bit of temperature and now both parents are horrified she might get ill. He wanted to call you himself, but apparently you didn't have any reception or your battery died."

"I hope Lucy will be ok," Lizzie said, knowing by now that Danny was married to Lindsay and they had a baby-daughter, Lucy.

"She'll be fine," Don said. "It's just a little fever. Over-protective parents. Look Mac, I'll be heading down to autopsy, see what Sid's got."

Mac nodded and turned his attention back to the evidence in front of him, but he got distracted by Lizzie clearing her throat. "Yes? What's up Elizabeth?"

Lizzie looked up at Mac, shyly, and asked whether she could maybe join Detective Flack. She'd love to meet the funky coroner she had already heard stories about and she promised that she would not faint at the sight of her first autopsy.

But Mac refused, saying: "No, not today. You'll be meeting Si…" that's when Mac abruptly stopped and recollected that Lizzie still had no idea who was working down in the morgue. "Some other time," he then simply said and hoped that Lizzie would accept his authoritative decision.

Lizzie didn't say anything, but she still thought it was strange that she was not allowed to join Detective Flack. She couldn't quite describe what it was, but deep down inside her stomach, she had a queer feeling, as if something was kept from her. She idolized Mac and so she couldn't quite believe that he was somehow lying to her or that he had a secret. But she was still determined to find out what was wrong. And she was determined to get to know the morgue on that particular day and not 'some other time'. She excused herself from the lab, under the pretence of having to go to the bathroom, but actually, she followed Don, whom she just caught in front of the elevator.

"You don't mind if I join you, right?" Not giving him any time to reply, she immediately attached a bitter-sweet smile and said: "Didn't think so."

Don gasped, but had no other choice but to step inside the elevator with Lizzie, muttering to himself that she was even more obnoxious today than she had been in the bar.

* * *

"Mac, could you quickly give me a hand?" Stella walked into the lab Mac was working in and pointed towards the vault on the other side of the hallway. "I need to put something inside and it's too heavy for me alone. I was actually looking for Hawkes, but I can't seem to find him anywhere and it's Adam's day off."

"No need to explain," Mac said, took off his gloves and lab coat and walked Stella to the vault. In front of it there was a big metal box, sealed by the NYPD. "Drugs?" asked Mac, wanting to know what was inside.

"Yeah, I was asked to store this here. I wonder if they have all already forgotten that the last time we had drugs in here, we got mugged big time," she winked.

Mac lent her a hand and the two of them lifted the big box and carried it inside the vault. A gust of wind closed the vault door behind them, but the light inside was enough to see. They placed the box on the floor.

"How is she doing?" Stella wanted to know.

"Good, I think. She wanted to join Flack in autopsy just now, I refused." Mac rubbed his hands clean of dirt and then wiped them on his pants.

"She will have to go down eventually," Stella gave to think.

"I know," Mac sighed. "But I'd like to prepare Sid first." Mac walked over to the vault door and tried to open it, but the big and massive door wouldn't bulge.

"What is it?" Stella asked and came up behind Mac.

"I don't know. It won't open, Stella, I think we're stuck;" he concluded. "You got your cell with you?"

Stella's eyes widened and she had to admit that her cell phone was lying on her desk in her office. "What about you?" she asked Mac.

"Battery's dead," Mac said. Both groaned, not knowing that being stuck in a vault was the least problem they could have.

* * *

Danny turned his key and opened the door. Lindsay was walking around the living room, the crying Lucy on her arm. Danny immediately walked over and gave his wife and daughter a kiss.

"What's up, my little darling?" he asked Lucy, but his little girl just continued crying.

"She's got fever, Danny. You think we have to take her to a doctor?" Lindsay worried.

"I called my mum on my way here and she said that we should go and bathe Lucy and if the fever won't sink, we should call her again. Apparently this is no reason to panic," he tried to calm his wife down.

Lindsay however could not be calmed down and she first looked at her husband in disbelief and then at her little daughter, whose cheeks were burning with fever.

* * *

The elevator doors to the morgue opened and Lizzie, self-assured, stepped out. She walked into the morgue and looked right and left, but she could see no-one.

Don couldn't see Sid either, so he called out for him, in a loud and clear voice: "Sid?"

Lizzie heard this name called out and it kept on ringing in her ear. _It can't be, no way, it can't be, no way_, she kept on repeating to herself, but somehow she knew that it could and that it would and that this had been what her gut-feeling had somehow tried to warn her about.

She saw the familiar man, whom she hadn't seen for six years, come out of one of the back rooms – he had aged, his hair was grey by now and his face had more wrinkles than before. But he was still the tall, skinny and noble man he had always been.

In a matter of seconds, both looked at each other, too shocked and surprised to say a word. Father beheld daughter and daughter saw father. Memories of times past came rushing back to them and while Sid remembered the good times with his little girl, all that Lizzie could recall were the times she had cried because of him – so deeply rooted was her hatred for him and his love for her.

She felt that she started to swoon, and gripped Don's arm for assistance. She walked back to the elevator and inside, she frantically pushed the button. Don, whom she had dragged into the elevator as well, had no idea what was going on and no matter how often, loud or clearly he addressed Lizzie, she would not answer. She just wanted the elevator doors to close – she did no longer want to see that man's face.

Sid hurried towards the elevator, calling out Lizzie's name repeatedly, but the doors had already closed by the time he got to them.

The elevator started to move, but stopped abruptly – the lights started to flicker and then went out.

What Lizzie and Don inside the elevator couldn't see was that all over New York City, the lights went out, one after another, enclosing the massive city in utter darkness.

* * *

_**Watch out for an update over the next few days and see what can happen in a city-wide blackout.**_


End file.
